What happens next?
First, preserve the letter and records. Check the reply date. We review the scope, decide what HMRC is entitled to request and agree a response plan.
Calm, confidential HMRC support
HMRC Tax Investigations
An HMRC letter is serious, but it is manageable. We will identify the deadline, explain what HMRC is asking for and help you choose the safest next step.
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QuickBooks PartnerCertified ProAdvisor100+ yearsCombined team experienceFully insuredUp to £2m indemnityHow long will it take?
A focused check may close in weeks. A broad enquiry can last many months. Timing depends on the issue, records and speed of replies; we will not promise a closure date HMRC controls.
What will it cost?
We first assess the letter and records. Investigation work is then scoped and quoted according to the years, taxes and correspondence involved. No invented fixed price fits every case.
This page is general information, not advice on your circumstances. HMRC investigations turn on the specific facts — please speak to us before acting.
Choose the letter or issue
HMRC investigation services
HMRC Compliance Checks Explained
What HMRC may ask for and how an enquiry normally moves from letter to closure.
Read this serviceThe Let Property Campaign
A route for landlords to disclose undeclared UK or overseas rental income.
Read this serviceMaking a Voluntary Disclosure
Correct undeclared tax before or after HMRC makes contact.
Read this serviceCode of Practice 9
Specialist support where HMRC suspects deliberate tax fraud.
Read this serviceVAT Enquiries and Investigations
Help with VAT records, transaction testing and HMRC correspondence.
Read this serviceFee Protection Insurance
Understand what investigation insurance may and may not cover.
Read this serviceSchedule 36 Information Notices
What a formal HMRC information notice can demand, and when you can appeal it.
Read this serviceCode of Practice 8 Investigations
How a COP8 specialist investigation works and how it differs from COP9.
Read this serviceVAT Compliance Check Letters
Records HMRC asks for, VAT visits, assessments and the appeal route.
Read this serviceVAT Refunds Held for Verification
Why HMRC holds a VAT repayment and how to release it faster.
Read this serviceCorporation Tax Enquiries
Company tax return enquiries under Paragraph 24 Schedule 18 FA 1998.
Read this serviceDirector’s Loan Account Enquiries
Overdrawn loans, s455 charges and HMRC challenges to dividends.
Read this serviceSelf Assessment Enquiries
Aspect and full s9A enquiries into a personal tax return.
Read this serviceDiscovery Assessments
When HMRC can reopen a closed year under s29 TMA 1970, and how to challenge it.
Read this serviceR&D Tax Credit Enquiries
Defending an R&D claim under an HMRC compliance check.
Read this serviceCIS Refunds Held by HMRC
Why CIS repayments stall and what a compliance review looks at.
Read this serviceIR35 and Off-Payroll Enquiries
Employment status checks under Chapter 8 and Chapter 10 ITEPA 2003.
Read this serviceYour Rights During an HMRC Enquiry
What HMRC can and cannot do, meetings, records and unannounced visits.
Read this serviceHMRC Penalties After an Enquiry
How behaviour and disclosure set the penalty range, and how to reduce it.
Read this serviceClosure Notices and Appeals
Closing an enquiry, statutory review and appealing to the tribunal.
Read this serviceHMRC Letters to Online Sellers
eBay, Etsy, Vinted, Amazon and Shopify income letters under the platform rules.
Read this servicePlain-English guidance
Understand the letter before you answer
An HMRC enquiry can concern one return, one transaction or several taxes. A compliance check is not automatically a criminal investigation. If HMRC alleges deliberate behaviour or mentions Code of Practice 9, take specialist advice before making a detailed statement.
Do not ignore a deadline, guess at missing figures or send a large bundle without understanding the request. A measured response can answer the question while keeping the scope proportionate.
Anonymised illustrations
What these enquiries look like in practice
Composite examples drawn from common enquiry patterns. Anonymised illustrations. These worked examples show how enquiries of this type usually run. They are not client case studies, and no outcome can be promised — HMRC decides each case on its own facts.
A compliance check into one year of a company return
- The business
- Single-director consultancy in Croydon, turnover under £500,000.
- The letter
- HMRC opened a check under paragraph 24 Schedule 18 Finance Act 1998 into one accounting period, asking for the nominal ledger, bank statements and an explanation of subcontractor costs.
- The risk
- The request was broader than the stated scope, and one subcontractor had been paid without a CIS check.
- Our approach
- Confirmed the legal basis and the period actually under enquiry before sending anything.Reconciled the filed return to the ledgers so every figure HMRC could see was explained.Answered the questions asked, with an indexed bundle rather than an unexplained data dump.Disclosed the CIS point voluntarily, in writing, before HMRC raised it.
- Where it landed
- Where a point is disclosed unprompted and the records support the rest of the return, HMRC will usually limit the check to that point and reduce the penalty range for the disclosure.
A VAT repayment held back for verification
- The business
- Construction company in Morden with a large one-off equipment purchase.
- The letter
- HMRC wrote to verify a repayment return before releasing it, asking for the five largest purchase invoices and evidence of the business use.
- The risk
- Cash flow. The repayment covered the quarter's wages, and the invoices were held by a supplier portal, not the bookkeeping system.
- Our approach
- Replied inside the stated window with the invoices, the purchase order trail and proof of payment.Explained the reverse charge treatment on the subcontractor invoices in the same reply.Kept a written record of each contact so any delay could be evidenced.
- Where it landed
- Verification checks are released once the officer is satisfied the input tax is properly claimed. A complete first reply is the single biggest factor in how long that takes.
Questions about an overdrawn director's loan account
- The business
- Family trading company in London, two director shareholders.
- The letter
- HMRC queried dividends voted during a loss-making year and asked how the directors' drawings had been treated.
- The risk
- Dividends declared without distributable profits can be recharacterised, bringing a section 455 charge and potentially earnings treatment.
- Our approach
- Rebuilt the drawings analysis from the bank data before responding.Checked the statutory accounts for distributable reserves at each declaration date.Set out the correct treatment, the tax due and the payment position in one considered letter.
- Where it landed
- Getting the analysis right before replying keeps the discussion about the correct figure rather than about the company's record keeping and behaviour.
An R&D claim challenged after the adviser disappeared
- The business
- Software company that used a contingent-fee claims agent.
- The letter
- HMRC opened a compliance check into two claim years and asked for the technical narrative, competent professional evidence and cost breakdowns.
- The risk
- The narrative had been written by the agent, who was no longer contactable, and the cost apportionment could not be tied to payroll records.
- Our approach
- Rebuilt the claim from source: project records, timesheets, payroll and the technological uncertainty actually faced.Withdrew what could not be supported and defended what could, explaining the difference.Addressed behaviour directly, because penalties turn on that, not on the size of the claim.
- Where it landed
- Claims that are re-evidenced honestly are far easier to settle than claims defended in full. Where part of a claim is wrong, early correction affects the penalty position.
A nudge letter about undeclared rental income
- The business
- Director in Wimbledon with two let properties held personally.
- The letter
- A One to Many letter said HMRC held information suggesting rental income had not been declared, and invited a disclosure.
- The risk
- Several years were involved, so the number of years and the behaviour category drove both the tax and the penalty.
- Our approach
- Established the real position across all years before replying to HMRC at all.Used the Let Property Campaign to make a structured, unprompted-quality disclosure.Agreed a payment plan at the same time as the disclosure, rather than after it.
- Where it landed
- Coming forward through the campaign, with a full and accurate disclosure, generally produces a materially better penalty position than waiting for HMRC to open a formal enquiry.
A letter about online marketplace income
- The business
- Full-time employee also selling on an online marketplace.
- The letter
- HMRC wrote using digital platform reporting data, asking whether the sales were trading income.
- The risk
- Personal selling and trading look identical in platform data, so the reply had to distinguish the two with evidence.
- Our approach
- Analysed the sales data to separate personal items sold at a loss from goods bought to resell.Registered for Self Assessment for the years where trading had genuinely started.Replied with a clear factual explanation rather than a denial.
- Where it landed
- Where the facts show no trade, an evidenced reply closes the letter. Where a trade did start, disclosing it first is the better position.
Confidential first conversation
Send us your HMRC letter details
Tell us what the letter says and its reply date. We read it, tell you what HMRC is actually asking for, and set out your options.
020 3441 1258Your details and any letter you upload are stored privately and used only to assess and respond to this enquiry. Sending this form does not appoint us or extend an HMRC deadline.